Broadway Road during rush hour is a transit headache for some motorists, but Tempe officials say there was a 35 percent reduction in traffic volumes along the urban strip over the past decade.

Motor-vehicle traffic on Broadway from Rural Road to Mill Avenue has declined as more people opted for bicycles and public transportation or chose to use the improved freeway system surrounding the city, said Eric Iwersen, a Tempe transit official.

Motor-vehicle traffic on that five-lane stretch of Broadway is now similar to what is seen on four-lane lengths of University Drive and Mill Avenue, Iwersen said.

Based on traffic statistics and on feedback from residents and businesses in the neighborhood, Tempe is proposing narrowing Broadway to four lanes to boost amenities for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Since streets are increasingly shared by bicyclists, pedestrians and motor vehicles, Tempe is seeking to “make Broadway Road, specifically that mile, and really the rest of the (major city) streets, more balanced … by providing transportation options for more people,” Iwersen said.

The proposed street improvements are the result of a long-standing push from residents who live near Broadway from Rural to Mill.

“The dialogue from the neighborhoods adjacent ... (was) we want to see changes here, we want it quieter or we want less traffic,” Iwersen said of public talks with the city dating to 1999.

But over the past decade, Iwersen said Tempe residents are responding to a nationwide trend that emanates from urban cities improving their public-transportation systems and concerns about motor vehicles’ effect on the environment.

“I’d say it’s evolved a little bit. More recently, we are hearing ... from people (that) they want better transportation options, cleaner transportation, they want an easier time walking the streets,” he said.

To gain feedback on the project’s design proposal, Tempe simulated the street change by temporarily removing one eastbound lane on Broadway from Mill to Rural.

The lane will be barricaded through Monday, Sept. 30. Broadway will have two lanes open eastbound and two westbound during the simulation period. Five lanes will be maintained at intersections to allow traffic to continue to move through the busy junctures at the rate it currently does.

Tempe will study traffic counts on Broadway, as well as counts and vehicle speeds on nearby neighborhood streets, such as College Avenue, Encanto, Dateland and Alameda drives.

Over the past year, Tempe studied options that included keeping Broadway five lanes — two westbound and three eastbound, Iwersen said.

The current option includes narrowing the street to four lanes, adding bike lanes on both sides of Broadway, maintaining a 4-foot sidewalk on the northern side of Broadway and adding an 8-foot sidewalk on the southern side of Broadway. Currently, the sidewalk on the southern side varies from 4 feet to 8 feet on Broadway from Mill to Rural.

On Monday, feedback on the design from Tempe residents using Broadway varied.

Dana Diehl, an Arizona State University graduate student, rides her bike home, crossing Broadway at College Avenue.

“There’s a lot of traffic in the area, obviously, so I would definitely be happy with a bike path being put in,” Diehl said. “It would make me feel a lot safer biking to school every morning if there was more room for bikers to go by.”

But Frank Worth, who lives in a Tempe neighborhood near the Broadway project and primarily uses a motor vehicle for transportation, balked at the proposal.

Worth said that the street is regularly packed with traffic. Broadway is used by some drivers who would rather cut through Tempe rather than use the freeways to travel between Southeast Valley cities. The street also sees heavy traffic from ASU students and students who attend Tempe Union High School at Broadway and Mill.

“I would vote against getting rid of that lane,” he said. “I’d like to see something done with the street to improve the looks of it. But the traffic down to one lane heading east, I don’t see how that’s going to work.”

If the city chooses to narrow the lane, Worth said he worries that tempers might flare amid traffic backups in the area.

“It might be road rage. Some people are going to be waiting a long time,” he said. “A lot of people use Broadway coming in during rush hour in the morning and the evening.”

During the simulation period in September, the public may offer feedback by e-mailing City Council members, by calling 480-350-4311 or providing online feedback at http://tempe.gov/index.aspx?page=770.

A rendering of the proposed project design will be finalized in October and posted on the city’s website. A meeting to gain public input on the project design and narrower street will be 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, at Community Christian Church, 1701 S. College Ave.

The public may comment on the project online Oct. 17-28, and view the design concept at tempe.gov/broadwayroad.

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